


Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

by nerdqueenenterprise



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: M/M, general cuteness, just some sweet little nonsense i write during studybreaks, smooches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-07-29 02:29:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16254839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdqueenenterprise/pseuds/nerdqueenenterprise
Summary: Assorted works regarding these two gaying around. Both canon and AU's, though that's never the focus of the story.





	1. Tired

“I love you!”

Paul stops in his tracks, feeling a little disoriented. He just came out of a properly steaming shower, his hair is sticking up in all directions while his eyes are threatening to fall closed because of the second successive triple shift he just came back from, and he only more or less bunched the towel around his waist up and it’s probably not going to hold.

So, really, “what?” should be a perfectly acceptable answer and then he should be left in peace to lie down on the nearest vaguely horizontal surface that isn’t entirely made from Vingurian desert stingers and sleep.

Hugh has different opinions though and expresses them by moving closer, touching Paul’s shoulder (acceptable) and putting his face, specifically his lips, against Paul’s. Also acceptable. What’s not acceptable is that he apparently expects Paul to kiss back, because that takes a lot of energy and concentration and mental effort and physical effort.

Hugh snickers and draws back. 

“Exhausting day, love?” His fingers fluff Paul’s hair before leaving again. “And may I just say that you look beyond adorable when your hair is like this?”

“You mean, when I wash it?”

Hugh chuckles and gives him another sweet kiss. “I assume you’re not in the mood to try the wine we ordered? I just picked it up from the supply beam.”

“Mhm. No. Sorry, I’m,” Paul scrubs a hand over his face and shakes his head, trying to collect his thoughts. “Tired.”

“It’s alright. Go to bed, Paul. The wine will still be here tomorrow. Which we both have off, so there’ll be plenty of time to have a drink.”

 

 

 

So Paul spends this evening with his face in Hugh’s pillow (Hugh hogs the blankets, so it’s only fair that Paul steals Hugh’s pillow when he goes to bed without him) and is asleep within minutes.

They spend the next evening together on the couch, testing their new wine and watching one of Hugh’s truly atrocious soap operas, and it’s really good.


	2. Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more gay.
> 
> this is kind of a college au i guess? but that doesn't matter

The epidemiology lecture isn’t exactly one of Hugh’s favorites. Ever. It’s boring, the professor is a bad lecturer, it’s right after lunch so Hugh generally feels more like napping rather than paying attention, and worst of all, the professor doesn’t even upload his presentation and you’re not allowed to take pictures, so paying attention and taking notes it is.

Which Hugh should be doing anyway, really.

But he didn’t get to see Paul for lunch, because there had been some holdup with one of the classes Paul is a TA for, and Hugh isn’t a needy boyfriend and they also live together so it’s fine. It really is.

Only Hugh doesn’t want to pay attention because he’s sleepy and he rather wants to sit on the couch with his toes tucked under Paul’s thigh, reading while Paul plays a video game.

He takes a break from pretending to take notes to sneak a peek of his phone, see whether Paul texted him. Paul didn’t, but Hugh still extends the peek to properly look at his background picture. It’s of them, of course; Paul laughing into the camera while Hugh kisses his cheek.

His phone vibrates with an incoming call.

Hugh almost drops it in shock, getting a funny glance from his seat neighbor and friend.

Why is Paul calling him, of all people?

There aren’t many things that are as rude as answering a call in a lecture, but Hugh is all the way in the middle of the row and getting out would cause a big commotion, and there are some people here who want to pay attention, and Paul might end the call before Hugh gets out.

Right, here goes nothing.

“Paul, I’ve got a lecture right now. What is it?”

_“You need to break up with me immediately!”_ Paul proclaims, sounding a bit too cheerful to be serious. Hugh bites back a groan. 

“Please don’t tell me you called me to make a joke. I’ll be home in an hour.”

_“I made cookies.”_

So?

_“And I forgot the_ sugar _! Hugh, who forgets to put sugar into cookies? Especially a sweet junkie like me! I straight up forgot it! I didn’t put any in!”_

“Paul…”

_“I wanted to surprise you with fresh cookies but - ugh, Hugh, who_ does _that?!”_

“I don’t know, maybe someone who also calls his boyfriend while he’s in a lecture!” Hugh hisses, trying to keep his voice down because he’s already getting glances. “Look - Paul, I appreciate the heads-up that my boyfriend is an adorable idiot, but just text me next time, alright? Love you, baby, but I gotta go, I gotta pay attention.”

 

 

 

 

When Hugh opens the front door to their apartment, he can hear a video game soundtrack (alright, yes, he knows it’s _The Witcher 3_ because he’s a great boyfriend who genuinely enjoys knowing what his love is up to and who enjoys hearing about his stuff and remembering what Paul is doing and interested in at the moment), and the place does smell of baked goods. He kicks off his shoes (and then, remembering Paul hates it when their entrance is messy, he nudges them into semi-order against the wall), hangs up his jacket and drops his bag next to the fridge before heading over to check up on his idiot sugar-free baker.

Paul is completely immersed into the game, so Hugh suddenly hugging him from behind makes him squeal and almost drop his character off a cliff before he manages to pause.

Hugh holds him down and nuzzles close to his ear to whisper: “This is payback for calling me during my lecture.”


	3. Meet-Cute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more college!culmets. originally posted on tumblr, but it also works with the college!culmets works in this work

“We’re going to be late if we don’t leave like 5 minutes ago!!”, yelled by someone who Hugh definitely doesn’t know and coupled with the bang of his dorm door against the wall, is the first thing that pops his studying bubble. 

The second thing is after Hugh turns around to see a really cute guy. Like super cute. Horribly cute. He’s got practically translucent skin and he’s flushed and confused and wearing an incredibly dorky vest and shirt ensemble.

AHU college is one of the biggest schools in the country, so of course Hugh doesn’t know most students, but he does know most of the people in his building, at least by face. Cute guy is not one of them.

“Hi,” Hugh says simply. “What are we going to be late to?”

Cute guy looks like he’s been caught in the headlights of a rather large semi. His mouth hangs open. In a cute way.

“You’re not Brendon,” cute guy says finally.

“No, I’m not.”

Cute guy breathes a “fuck” and stares up against the ceiling. His phone chimes and he ignores it for a moment, standing in the doorway and seemingly having a complete mental breakdown. Finally he does check his phone, and his face falls even further.

“Great,” he mutters.

“What’d Brendon do?” Hugh asks, feeling oddly invested in whatever’s going on.

“He… apparently it’s a prank. I was - he said - he wanted me to go on this double date with him and his girlfriend and her friend, and he said he’d be with a friend and I’m supposed to pick him up, but… unless I’m wrong and this isn’t a single, Brendon doesn’t live here.”

“I don’t even know anyone named Brendon.”

“Yeah, see, right there. It was a prank and I fell for it. Again.” Cute guy swallows and blinks a couple times, and - oh. He’s… not happy.

“What happened?” Hugh asks softly.

“Doesn’t matter.” Is that a sniffle he makes? “Sorry for kicking down your door. I should, uh, be on my way.”

“I was just about to, you know, make coffee, have something to eat, so… I don’t know, if you still wanna go out with someone, I’d - I’d buy you a coffee?” The flutter of hope in Hugh’s throat feels a little pathetic.

Cute guy stares. “What?”

“You’re having a shitty day, so let me buy you a coffee. I’m Hugh, by the way.”

“Paul,” cute guy replies a little absent-mindedly. “Why are you buying me a coffee?”

Hugh gets up and grabs his jacket. “Cause you’re cute. Shall we?”

 

 

 

Hugh watches in horror as the biology and astrophysics student, as he’s found out, dumps half a table spoon of sugar into his coffee and then licks the spoon he stirs with, which is really distracting, and coffee turns to them going to the museum of natural history, mainly so Paul can prove a point to Hugh, but they end up going to all three exhibits that are open, and Paul gets really excited and theoretical about some things, and it’s adorable, and then they get pizza together, and Hugh loves the way he moves his hands and how he scrunches his nose up and the way he sneezes and how he talks a mile a minute and how interested he is in everything and how he bites his lip and the color of his eyes.

At the end of the day Hugh has a new number in his phone and he didn’t study enough for his test the next day, but they’ve already set a time and place for their next date and Hugh really wants to doodle hearts and write “Paul” in them.


	4. Lipstick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not 2 b weird or anything but this was kinda inspired (and by kinda i mean very) by the song lipstick by jedward. yes. the eurovision song. yes. i know. please do not @ me but it's a good song
> 
>  
> 
> (canon culmets)  
> (crossposted from tumblr)

A certain lovely sense of relief comes with the sound of the doors to his and Paul’s quarters swishing open. It almost feels like Hugh’s feet ache less already.

Paul is curled up on the couch, wearing thigh highs and that one mushroom shirt Hugh accidentally ordered in XL (which had subsequently become Paul’s favorite, even though he allegedly hates Hugh’s mushroom merch. Who usually wears the shirts and the socks and even the underwear though? Well, not Hugh.), flipping through some charts, but he looks up when Hugh enters.

The PADD clatters on the table and Paul bounces over to Hugh.

“Hi,” he says with that sweet little grin Hugh loves so much. Then it falls for a moment where Paul’s eyes flick over Hugh’s face, his pink tongue peeks out for a mere moment, he bites his lower lip and -  _smooch_.

Hugh chuckles as Paul pulls back. “Missed you too, corazón.”

Paul makes a marvelous tiny moan, licks his lips again and smooches Hugh again, hands coming to rest on Hugh’s shoulders and one of them trailing down to tangle with his fingers.

He pulls back, nods to himself a little, and leans in for another little kiss. And another. And another. Always pulling back in-between, licking his lips for a moment, looking satisfied and then coming back.

It’s so cute, and Hugh lets him, because whatever this means, it’s cute and he likes getting kissed by Paul and he’s sure there’s a cute and logical explanation for this.

Except Paul goes on, moaning a little bit on occasion, then moving his attention more to the corners of Hugh’s lips, first one side, then the other.

Then one last kiss, a swipe of his tongue right over Hugh’s lips that has him opening his mouth immediately, and then he pulls back with a satisfied smile, lets go of Hugh and goes to curl up on the couch again.

Uh. Right.

“I’m just going to… go change?”

“Yeah!” Paul gives him an enthusiastic smile and goes back to his charts.

 

 

 

 

Five minutes later Hugh crosses the room again to go sit next to Paul, who snuggles into him happily while still engrossed in his reading. Hugh slings an arm around his boyfriend and leans his chin on his shoulder.

“So, tell me about the results of your experiment?”

“Huh? Experiment? Oh, the one with Aspergillus niger?”

“The one you did right now?”

“You mean these?” Paul holds the PADD up to Hugh’s view.

“The one where I came in, got a dozen little kisses, and then you went back to your reading.” Hugh nuzzles closer and kisses Paul on the cheek. “What was that about?”

“Oh! Your lips were really red and they looked tasty and they were. I don’t know - chapstick maybe? Was tasty.”

“So you kissed it off me and called it a day?”

Paul tosses the PADD away again and really, one day he’ll splinter their table, turns around so their noses brush against each other and kisses Hugh again, just about catching his upper lip.

“Tasty,” he repeats. “Why were you wearing chapstick?”

“The ventilation is badly broken in medbay, and we got really dry wind the entire time.”

“So you wore chapstick so your lips won’t be too dry for me to kiss them?”

“My dear sweet Paul, I wore medically approved strawberry chapstick so that my lips won’t dry out.”

“Medically approved?”

“I’ve got an MD and I approved of them.”

“I see. I’ve heard that kissing is good also. Is that true?”

“Well…” Hugh moves to hold Paul’s hand. “I’ve got an MD and  _I_  approve of it, so yes.”

“We should do that then.”

“Absolutely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


	5. And This is Why We Read the Instructions on Washing Machines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more college au

    “You need to put on a shirt,” Paul says absent-mindedly. He’s more focussed on his laptop screen and chewing on one of Hugh’s pens than on Hugh, who literally just entered the kitchen to get some breakfast.

    “I have a shirt on,” Hugh replies, checking the fridge to see whether - no, no orange juice appeared overnight. Bummer. At least Paul made bread yesterday, so his breakfast isn’t going to be sad cereal with the last drops of milk. Wednesdays are grocery run days, but that’s no excuse that they so far have never managed to have enough items for a full breakfast on Wednesdays.

Paul looks up and smirks. “Yes, a Wonder Woman pajama top that only fits you because it was made for busty women and because it was available in XXL  _and_ because we added a homemade v-cut.”

Hugh looks down and squeezes his left pec. “I thought you liked my chest.”

    “I do, but Madeline, the student who I’m helping with her thesis, might not. Also put on pants as well because yes, I also appreciate your ass in hot pink hot pants, but again, she might not.”

Hugh laughs and shakes the aforementioned ass in Paul’s direction. “Can I have breakfast first? When will she be here, anyways? Because I’ll have to be out at ten for my lab class, so…”

Paul’s eyes flick over to him, to the clock on the wall and back to Hugh. “Fifteen minutes?”

    “Welp.”

    “I put our clothes up to dry yesterday though, so you can just grab something,” Paul offers, the trace of a smirk still curling in the corner of his mouth. It’s one of Hugh’s favorite looks on him, if he’s honest.

So he sets down his slice of bread, kisses Paul’s temple, laughs about the possessive hand on his thigh and goes to get something to wear so that poor girl isn’t too scandalized.

 

 

 

 

The door rings and Paul goes to open it just as Hugh buttoned up a pair of jeans that feel rather snug.

Also, his favorite pink shirt is clean again now, so he gladly trades in his Wonder Woman pajama top for that one. Only… well. Hugh pulls the shirt on and… there’s a bit of a gap between the hem of the shirt and the waistband of his jeans. And hey, his pecs aren’t that big.

Actually, they are, and he’s very proud of that, but…

    “Paul? How hot did you wash these?”

    “What? Why?”

Christ, he can barely move his arms.

He walks over towards the door of their apartment, watching Paul’s eyes flick over him, stop at his midsection, and then Paul blushes.

    “Uh.”

    “Yeah,” Hugh replies, trying to smother his grin while flexing his very visible abs. “I already have a few crop tops, I didn’t know this was one of them.”

Paul is clearly busy licking his lips and not listening to him. It’s ten kinds of adorable.

    “I’m sorry, I probably wasn’t paying attention when I put the clothes in. Uh. I’ll text your mom later, see whether she knows an easy fix.”

    “I’ll go put on a full sized shirt.” Unless you don’t want me to, Hugh wants to add, but Paul’s student is there so maybe he should take himself and his bare abs somewhere else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


	6. Taste the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what do you mean the title is a bill wurtz reference
> 
> canon style culmets

Hugh’s body wakes after it has finally decided that there are too many things out of order. Hugh’s brain doesn’t want to move though, so it tries to analyze things while keeping his head mushed into the pillow.

First of all, Paul. Paul is still there, somewhere, probably attached to the hand that Hugh’s ear lies on, and he’s breathing his soft snuffling sleep breaths interspersed with some snores. That’s good. That’s very good because whatever is wrong according to his body can be fixed with Paul’s help, probably.

Secondly, a bed. That’s where he is. It’s warm and toasty and fluffy but… right, the bedsheets are wrong. They’re not as… they’re not the ones they have at home. It might even be a texture Paul doesn’t like.

Thirdly, the environment. It’s warm, with a gentle breeze feathering over Hugh’s exposed back, but it’s more sunshine-warm than turned up the heating-warm. Something is splashing in the mid-distance. There are birds. Maybe Paul left a video game on? But his skin really feels like it’s warmed by the sun.

Hugh decides that that’s a question for another time and instead seeks out Paul’s side to snuggle against because Paul smells good.

And that’s that for a while.

 

 

 

 

The next time he wakes, it’s to fingers in his hair, scratching gently.

    “Morning, baby.” There’s sleep still in Paul’s voice, so much rougher than usual.

Hugh presses his face against Paul’s ribcage and holds him a little closer, trying to savor the time they have left before the alarm will ring and dispatch them to their duties.

He also slings a leg around Paul’s leg, because even though this might be just them in bed, he likes claiming Paul for himself. Just a little.

Paul must’ve grabbed his PADD and is reading something, because he’s unusually quiet. Normally, when they’re both awake, he’s very chatty, even early in the morning, which drives Hugh up the walls sometimes. So this is nice.

A vacation. Right, that’s what’s happening.

Hugh snickers softly when the realization hits him. Man, how did he forget? It’s their first real vacation as a couple too.

    “What is it?” Paul asks. He hasn’t stopped scratching Hugh’s scalp. It’s so nice.

    “Forgot we’re on vacation and was wondering why things are so weird. Bedsheets, the sun on our skin… thought you’d left a video game with an ocean on.”

Paul laughs as well, his thorax vibrating. “It’s not like we planned this for forever, hm?”

Hugh reaches his head up to bite at the thin skin between Paul’s chest and upper arm, making him squeak.

    “It’s early, leave me be.”

 

 

 

 

It feels weird to just lay around, dozing and snuggling, not getting up to get things done, filing reports or filling in forms or any of the menial work they have to do on their days off. Paul is reading a novel he started recently, and Hugh is very content to lay snuggled against his side, occasionally kissing his skin and just enjoying himself.

Eventually Paul puts his PADD aside and finds Hugh’s hand on his stomach.

    “Wanna get breakfast and then go to the beach?”

Hugh cracks open an eye and peers over Paul through the open sliding doors onto the patio. “The beach is right there.”

    “Mhm, and breakfast is right in the kitchen. Or did you forget that we also brought stuff?”

Hugh doesn’t respond to the tease, rather mentally prepares himself to push himself up on his forearms and look down on Paul. There’s platinum stubble on his cheeks and his hair sticks up in all directions. Hugh smiles and cups his cheek, lowering himself down to press a kiss against Paul’s other cheek.

    “I kind of don’t want to get up though. You’re very snuggly.”

Paul proves that by wrapping his arms around Hugh again, grinning happily. “I am.”

    “It feels weird to not have to do something though.”

    “We have to have breakfast eventually, otherwise I’ll get grumpy and you too.”

Hugh pokes him. “You know what I meant. No shifts, no reports, no statistics analyses, we can just laze around and do nothing.”

    “Maybe I want to do you.”

Hugh pokes him again, in a more sensitive spot, making Paul squee. “After breakfast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


	7. Elevator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> canon culmets

     “Hold the lift!” Hugh calls out, and luckily enough, the ensign hits the calling pad and the doors slide open again. “Thank you.”

He pushes the little trolley in, careful to not upset any of the precariously balanced and already wobbling things.

     “Doctor Culber.” Lieutenant Stamets smirks at him from where he’s comfortably slouched against the wall.

     “Lieutenant Stamets,” Hugh returns the greeting.

The doors swish shut and Paul’s smile turns a bit softer.

    “What do you have there?”

     “The supply beam for the medical lab finally came in, and things are slow, so I thought I’d stretch my legs a little and go get them.”

Paul pokes one of the containers. “Feels kind of unfair that your beam came in but ours didn’t.”

     “We do have priority.”

     “But science should have priority too.”

     “Life sciences, love.”

     “Pfft, nobody needs  _that_.”

Hugh has a smart retort already prepared, when suddenly there’s a loud  _clank_  and the turbolift jars to a sudden stop. The lights flicker off, leaving them with only the emergency glow strips marking the floor and doors.

     “Uh,” Paul says, voice sounding so much closer in the darkness. He must’ve reached to the comm button, because his next words are addressed not towards Hugh: “Hey, uh, this is turbolift three, we’re a little bit stuck. While we appreciate the break, you could have supplied us with snacks if this is a planned stop.”

There’s no response.

     “Not having snacks is your biggest worry?” Hugh asks, slightly incredulous, even though he should know better. Paul loves snacking, and more often than not it’s the only way he will eat enough.

     “Well, the company is good, I’ve got my PADD should we want music or games or movies, so the only thing I have to worry about is snacks.”

The intercom crackles. 

      _“Turbolift three, this is sys con, are you receiving? We ran into a… an anomaly. Complete power loss to general systems, life support holding. Are you all right in there?”_

     “Sys con, this is turbolift three. We’re okay. Any estimate on how long the power loss will be?”

      _“No, sorry. Who’s in there?”_

“Doctor Culber and Lieutenant Stamets,” Paul replies. “We’ll be fine, provided medical can wait for a bit on their supply beam content. Is there anything we can do right now?”

_“Lieutenant Stam- aw, fuck, captain’s been asking for you. Guess you’re not going to be much help if you can only consult. Yeah, you’ll just have to hold out. Sorry.”_

Paul must’ve dropped the line because the light crackle of emergency comms fades out.

     “Of all the people I could’ve gotten stuck in a lift with, lieutenant, and it just had to be you,” Hugh says softly into the darkness.

     “Terrible, isn’t it? However shall we pass our time until our rescue?”

     “I mean, we could always make out.”

Paul giggles. “You read my mind.”

Hugh can only barely make out a dark shape moving towards him, and then Paul is right in front of him, pressing against him, warm and soft and smelling as nice as always. Paul pulls Hugh in for a kiss and he secretly hopes they won’t be saved for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


	8. Beep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> set early on in their relationship

The movie started less than ten minutes ago, but Paul’s shoulder is already pressing against Hugh’s, and Hugh doesn’t dare to breathe, because  _yes, this,_  he wants Paul to stay snuggled against him, ideally coming a little closer, until they’re really wrapped up together.

Paul has shown a tendency to snuggle before, but the occasion was never really right, and then they of course only rarely meet up physically, and there’s quite a difference between being in a relationship and interacting physically.

But yeah, Paul Stamets is a physical person, and a snuggler, and it makes Hugh’s heart beat faster to have him pressed against him.

So he wraps his arm around Paul only minutes later, pulls him closer.

Paul beeps.

     “D… did you just make that sound?” Hugh asks, completely flummoxed.

Paul stiffens. Noticeably. “Which sound?”

     “Uh, it sounded like a little beep? You know, um, the sound cats make when you, you bap their head?”

     “Sorry.”

Hugh doesn’t let him draw away though, rather pulls him closer and finally allows himself to lean his face into Paul’s baby soft hair.

     “Anyone ever tell you that it’s really cute?”

     “Really?” Aww, Paul perked up so much at that.

     “Yeah,” Hugh breathes. God, he can’t wait to one day maybe get to snuggle Paul like this every day. He smells really good, too. Well, Paul always smells really good, so that’s not really a surprise.

Paul burrows closer into Hugh’s side and finally tucks his feet under himself, sighing contently. “Good. I make lots of weird sounds.”

     “Good.” Oh, he definitely has butterflies now. “I’m so looking forward to hearing all of them.”

 

 

 

 

Later, Paul also makes a few soft ‘hmm’ sounds every time he worms more into Hugh’s arms, and by the time the credits roll, they’re stretched out on the couch and Paul is practically purring in Hugh’s arms. He’s also giving off more heat than a space heater, and Hugh will happily stay wrapped up in each other like this for the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


	9. Snack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> canon culmets

 

Hugh washes up and then crawls onto the couch, depositing his head in Paul’s lap while his love finishes up whatever report or statistics compilation he’s reading. Paul is soft and cuddly and smells good and he’s already absentmindedly rubbing Hugh’s stiff neck.

     “So?” he asks eventually, softly. “How was your first week aboard Discovery?”

Hugh hums and nuzzles into Paul’s stomach. They’re both in their pajamas, so Hugh doesn’t bump his face into the stiff fabric of an uniform jacket; rather he bumps it into fabric that’s soft from sleep and already smelling of Paul.

Paul keeps rubbing his neck and they let the question hang between them for a while.

     “’swas nice,” Hugh replies eventually, a little drowsy. “Busy. I love being with you, having… having us here, together.”

Paul chuckles. “I know. I meant ‘how’s work?’, but… alright.”

     “Work is fine. Really busy, to be honest. I didn’t expect it to be this busy, but… well, you’re all scientists here, aren’t you? Lots of really smart people with no brain. Hmm. Mostly nice people, I think. A few assholes, but you always have those. Though everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy? What’s up with that?”

Paul sighs and squeezes Hugh’s neck muscles some more, clearly deliberating a little over his words. “I might have… yelled at people. On occasion. Because they were being stupid. And… now I have a bit of a reputation.”

     “So I heard. Scientists like gossip too, it seems.” Hugh lifts his hand to let it crawl under Paul’s shirt and press his fingers against his skin. “Any particular reason?”

     “Ugh, not really. Just… some lab safety stuff, some… some general stupidity stuff, some stuff because they were getting on my nerves. Don’t worry about it. I’m, well, you know I’ll be happier if they’re not all trying to be buddies with me. I don’t care about the gossip. Ignore it if you want to, or just… I don’t know, you can join in, if you want to.”

Hugh snuggles deeper into Paul. “I don’t want to gossip about you. You’re lovely! But… luckily it’s not really bad gossip, and as long as you’re fine, I don’t care.”

     “I do want to hear about it though.” There’s a grin in Paul’s voice. Hugh knows that grin very well - it’s smirky and foxy and entirely too endearing, and it makes Paul’s eyes twinkle.

     “Well, in that case, let me tell you about how someone said that it’s a shame you’ve got such a sharp tongue, because you’re such a snack. Which is a nice descriptor, really. Snack. Very tasty, soft, probably with gooey insides… very likeable… I like it. I’ll call you my snack from now on.”

That makes Paul laugh properly, and Hugh smiles happily into Paul’s shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen anthony rapp _is_ a snack and you cannot change my mind!
> 
>  
> 
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


	10. Fries

     “No,” Paul says as decisively as he can.

     “Please?”

     “No! It’s not my fault you had a salad. They’re mine!”

     “Well, it’s not my fault all the other things they had on the menu sucked!” Hugh counter-argues, throwing a pointed glance at Paul’s burger, because that thing has pineapple on it.  _Pineapple_. Now, Hugh is very well aware that pineapple is (technically) edible, but that doesn’t mean it has to be eaten. Much less on a burger, or, (Paul’s favorite way of eating pineapple) on a pizza.

Paul follows Hugh’s line of sight, smiles sweetly and eats the chunk of pineapple that was in danger of falling off his burger and ruining all those beautiful fries.

     “Noph my faulb yu josh had a shalad.”

     “Don’t speak with a full mouth.”

Paul swallows and glares prettily. “You’re not my mom.” Then, with a smirk and a wink: “Luckily.”

     “Exactly. You’re lucky to have me, and sharing is caring. Now give me your fries.” He raises his eyebrows, trying to look cute. Not that that ever really works on Paul anymore, especially not since they’ve known each other for so long, but hey, he can try!

Paul takes another large bite, looking entirely too good with pineapple juice dripping down his chin, and entirely too much like someone who doesn’t share his fries.

     “I’ll be hungry on the ride,” Hugh tries some more.

Finally, with a long-suffering sigh and an eyeroll, Paul pushes the basket of fries over and Hugh helps himself immediately.

     “Just why did I have to marry such a picky eater?”

     “You eat pineapple, Paul. On pizza and on burger. You’re not even allowed to  _talk_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


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